Chapter 23

At Alpha's Storage Warehouse, Joker sat on a desk in the old foreman's office, throwing darts at a dartboard with Nighwing's picture pinned to it. Each time a dart hit the picture, Joker would laugh. A few moments later, some of Joker's hired henchmen walked in, dragging Nightwing behind them. Half his face was covered in blood. Joker laughed and jumped off the desk.

"Mr. Grayson! How good to see you again"

Nightwing growled at him.

Joker got in his face. "Are you upset, former Boy Wonder? Now let's see, who's coming to save you? Daddy maybe? Or maybe your little sister? I had fun last time she visited."

Nightwing filled his mouth with saliva and blood and spat on the Joker's face. Joker reared back and wiped his face. Joker slapped Nightwing with the back of his hand.

"Learn some respect boy! Take him to the play room." The henchmen started to take Nightwing away. "No one's coming to save you Grayson!"

"I doubt that highly," Nightwing muttered.

Darkness was falling over the city as Athena and Robin drove down the roads of east Gotham. The rubble from the week before had been mostly cleaned up. Robin followed Athena as they zigzagged down the street.

"Athena?"

"Tim, no one can hear us now. I turned off the com. Drop the names for now."

"Pip, how do you know where we're going? Joker could be anywhere in Gotham."

"Trust me, I know where he is."

Tim thought for a minute. "Alpha's Storage Warehouse!"

"Exactly."

"You sent the others on a wild goose chase!"

"Basically."

"Why?!"

"He's our brother Tim. We're going to get him out. This is a personal mission."

"Piper, if I figured out that it's all a lie, the Bruce will too"

"We've got a head start Tim. That's what counts."

As the two drove down the road, a small, dark puddle by the curb caught Tim's eyes. He signaled Piper to stop and pointed to the puddle. Piper skid to a halt and jumped off her bike. She ran to the side of the road with Tim close behind her. She took off her glove and touched the puddle. It was warm and sticky. It was blood. And it wasn't just anyone's blood. It was Dick's.

Piper and Tim jumped back onto their bikes and started again down the road. A few yards down, they saw another blood splotch. And then another. They followed the splotches until they reached the front of Alpha's Storage Warehouse. Piper looked at Tim.

"I told you that's where he is."

Piper started to go inside but Tim grabs her arms

"Are you crazy? We need to wait for backup!"

"We don't have time to wait. Who knows what they could be doing to Dick right now. I won't wait for them to kill him."

Piper broke loose and kicked the door down. She walked into the dim light. The Joker's laugh suddenly echoed through the room.

"Well, well, well, Athena. How very nice to see you again."

Anger boiled inside Piper. "Where is he?! Where is Nightwing?"

"Don't worry my dear. Your brother is, well, alive. But since you're so keen on finding him, I'll let you play a little game of hide-and-seek. Happy hunting."